The Rock Climber's Exercise Guide by Eric Horst

Author:Eric Horst
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781493017645
Publisher: Falcon Guides

* Weights are approximations for a 160-pound climber. Use similar percentages of your body weight.

Heavy Finger Rolls

What this exercise lacks in specificity to climbing, it makes up for in high-intensity neuromuscular stimulation. Perhaps more than any other exercise, heavy finger rolls produce noticeable hypertrophy (an increase in the size of muscle cells). Therefore, tremendous training synergy can result from coupling heavy finger rolls with a climbing-specific exercise such as fingerboard repeaters and campus training.

One barrier to engaging in heavy finger roll training is finding the necessary weight-training equipment. You will need access to a 200-pound free-weight set, a bench-press bar with ball-bearing sleeves, and a squat rack. If you belong to a traditional health club or well-equipped climbing gym, then you are in luck. Otherwise, you’ll need to determine whether training with this exercise is worth the significant investment in equipment (around $500)—although it will also come in handy for antagonist muscle training.

1. First, you need to set up the equipment to facilitate training with heavy weights. Set the squat rack so that the bench-press bar rests at about knee height. Load weight plates onto the bar to a warm-up weight of roughly one-half your body weight.

2. Stand in the middle of the squat rack and grip the bar with your hands shoulder width apart and thumbs pointing outward. Now lift the bar to gain the exercise stance with the bar lightly touching your thighs. Body position is critical to reduce strain on your lower back, elbows, and wrists—bend slightly at your knees, center your hips and shoulders over your feet, and maintain good posture with your lower back straight and your head up. It helps to perform this exercise standing in front of a mirror, so you can monitor your technique while looking straight ahead.

3. Begin rolling the bar up and down in your fingers. The range of motion is only the few inches from the open-hand position to the closed-hand position. Ideally you want to lower the bar as far as possible without it falling from your hand. The squat rack is your spotter just in case the bar does slip from your fingers. Maintain a still, stable body position throughout the exercise—do not jerk the weight with your arms in an attempt to perform extra reps.

4. Continue rolling the bar up and down for a total of ten to fifteen warm-up reps, and then replace the bar on the rack.

5. Rest for 3 to 5 minutes, then move on to the first of four training sets. (See table 7.5.)

6. Your training weight must be heavy to be effective. Use body weight as a starting value, but increase the weight as needed to make training to eight repetitions difficult. Well-trained individuals may need to use as much as 150 percent of body weight. Rest for 3 to 5 minutes between sets.

Table 7.5 Heavy Finger Rolls

Sample Program for a 160-Pound Climber

Set Weight Reps Rest Between Sets

Warm-Up 95 lb. 10–15 3–5 mins.

1 155 lb. 5–8 3–5 mins.

2 185 lb. 5–8 3–5 mins.

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